A LOOK BACK Monterrey Open (Monterrey, Mexico): Fifth seed and American #NextGen star Ernesto Escobedo continued his outstanding second half of 2016 by winning his second ATP Challenger Tour title, defeating fellow American and third seed Denis Kudla, 6-4, 6-4. Ernesto is the 14th #NextGen winner of the year and only the second (joining Frances Tiafoe) to win multiple titles. Escobedo was ranked outside the Top 500 of the Emirates ATP Rankings when he competed last year in Monterrey, but is now projected to move up to No. 129 on Monday. Tashkent Challenger (Tashkent, Uzbekistan): Fifth seed Konstantin Kravchuk of Russia won the biggest title of his career by defeating seventh seed and local favourite Denis Istomin, 7-5, 6-4. Kravchuk...
Speaking from the ATP Champions Tour event in Monterrey, Mexico, former World No. 1 Andy Roddick shares the Last Time... I lost something important? I used to lose things a lot. I don’t lose them as much anymore, but I lost an iPad when I was travelling two weeks ago. I do a lot of work from there, so I was a little bit stressed out, but we found it quickly. I paid money to rent a tennis court or buy tennis balls? I buy tennis balls all the time. I go to the shop and buy them like anyone else would. And then paying for a court, the club I grew up at would charge for indoor courts and...
At the halfway point of the 2016 season, it appeared as if the battle for year-end No. 1 was already decided. Novak Djokovic, who had sat atop the Emirates ATP Rankings in four of the past five years come November, opened a hefty lead over Andy Murray following his maiden title at Roland Garros. But Murray has not gone down without a fight, and the World No. 2 finds himself in hot pursuit of his longtime rival following back-to-back titles in Beijing and Shanghai. Sunday's Shanghai Rolex Masters champion is now less than 1,000 points behind Djokovic for the top spot in the Emirates ATP Race To London, having surged to a total of 9,685. The Scot is confident he...
The relationship between forehands and backhands is very much like a sword and a shield. Generally, you attack with the forehand (sword) and defend with the backhand (shield), all the time looking to battle from more superior court positioning than your opponent. Andy Murray defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6(1), 6-1 in the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters by showcasing one of the most impenetrable shields in the sport. Bautista Agut constantly tested the Murray backhand with his own run-around forehand, but time and time again it was not a big enough weapon to inflict any damage. Bautista Agut’s Spanish style of play relies heavily on run-around forehands in the Ad Court, rifling them back cross court to his right-handed...
Race to London Moves Indoors: After an exciting three weeks of action in Asia, the three week, six tournament European indoor circuit leading into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals begins with the inaugural tournament in Antwerp along with traditional events in Moscow and Stockholm. Overall, there are seven of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Race to London competing. The top two seeds in Antwerp are Belgian No. 1 David Goffin and David Ferrer. In Moscow, the top seeds are Spaniards Roberto Bautista Agut and Albert Ramos-Vinolas. In Stockholm, the top seeds are former champions Gael Monfils and Grigor Dimitrov. Emirates ATP Race to London Update: Seven of the Top 20 players in the Emirates ATP Race...